The pledge the Gulf Cooperation Council and the EU made at the first bilateral summit to work towards an FTA is not insignificant. Getting there, remains, however, a long shot.
Turkey & Med
Western Sahara : ECJ confirms illegality of Morocco trade deals, forbids French ban
The Court of Justice of the European Union upheld earlier rulings that found bilateral agreements on agriculture and fisheries with Morocco concluded more than a decade ago are illegal due to their unwarranted coverage of Western Saharan products. A parallel Grand Chamber ruling told France not to unilaterally ban imports …
EU readies to make Palestine association deal rules of origin more flexible
The European Union is readying to offer more flexible rules of origin to Palestinian exports.
Blog: The EU’s gripes against Algeria and its import substitution drive
On Friday the European Commission announced it was initiating a new bilateral legal dispute with Algeria under their joint Association Agreement in force since 2005. The ‘note verbale’ it sent to the Algerian government sets out the details of its complaint.
THINK TANK: EU strategic technologies, EU-GCC energy trade pact, WTO again
This week’s think tank publication highlights include another set of new pieces by the European Council on Foreign Relations and a think piece from the Peterson Economics for International Trade.
THINK TANK: WTO reform, EU data flows, Turkish elections and the customs union
After a few weeks of being fairly quiet, think tanks doing things on trade policy have been churning out reports again – long or short – on some big-ticket items: WTO reform, EU data flows and EU Turkey relations.
Blog: Roundup on EU FTAs and digital partnerships
Wonder where we are in a range of free trade agreement negotiations of the EU? Here’s a short update on selected trade agreements.
Arbitrators issue first post-Appellate Body report in Geneva
Appeal arbitrators issued the first ruling that follows the demise of the Appellate Body in late 2019 at the World Trade Organization. The format and content of the award give an initial indication of what the future of WTO dispute settlement might be.
WTO panel lenient on EU steel safeguard
Part Two of the recent Turkey-EU trade dispute settlement saga around pharmaceuticals and steel is ending today with a panel report that goes easy on Brussels in its handling of its 2018 steel safeguard measure. Even if the panel did not give the EU a clean slate in the way …
WTO: Turkey to appeal EU pharma case win in ad hoc arbitration mechanism
The MPIA will once again have to wait. But Turkey and the EU are setting a precedent by using an alternative World Trade Organization appeals mechanism to settle their legal scores as the appellate body continues to lie dormant.
